quitting time

What is it that keeps some people going past the place where others call it quits?  Is it drive?  Determination?  Willpower?  "Guts"?  Lately I have had an image stuck in my head regarding this question.  I am standing at a crossroads.  One of the old fashioned ones like you see in old movies with two dirt roads intersecting in an open field.  There is a wooden stake with arrows pointing in both directions, but only one has any markings on it.  It simply reads "reason".  I can tell by looking at the track leading in that direction that most of my fellow sojourners have heeded its gentle prodding and gone that way.  At first, I can't  say that I blame them.  The road is wide, flat, safe and with promise of shade somewhere not too far up.  However, as I look down the road marked by "reason", I get the feeling that I have been there before.  Something inside tells me that along the way I would probably find the wreckages I have left on that road in the past.  It looks different this time, as it always does.  It looks safer, more comfortable and even possibly more fun than the last time... but it always ends in varying degrees of the same kind of awful disappointment
.        Looking forward, I am greeted with a much more rugged scene.  The road becomes a simple dusty path overrun by weeds.  It is obvious that very few people choose this way, but still, there are enough to keep the path established.  Further on, the track leads through a forest and then up to a mountain.  This is the point at which people begin to "reason" with themselves, making up any excuse to take the easy way.  They tell themselves they can't do it, that it's just too hard, It's just too much work, It's not FOR anything, or it's just not enough fun.
       I stand at that crossroads and think to myself "why?"  WHY would anyone choose the road most traveled when they already know EXACTLY where it will lead?  If, even IF they are fortunate enough to survive the trip down that road again with minimal losses, it only leads right back to here.  The choice will be presented again and again until the right one is made.  So now we have come full circle... What is it that keeps some people going past the place where others call it quits?  Is it drive, determination, willpower or guts?  No.  It is, quite simply, a choice.  We all have the power to make that choice.  No matter how great or small your personal bank of determination of willpower, all it takes is the tiniest amount of faith to keep you moving forward.  Faith that the reward is waiting for you over the mountain and through the woods.  Faith that you will be given the strength to see it through to the end.  Faith that you are doing this for a reason, even if it seems like the task is too great.  As hard as it is to continue pressing forward, the long term rewards outweigh the short term comforts significantly.
      I am writing this from a spiritual perspective, but this is applicable to every situation and every tough decision you may ever have to make.  It could be physical challenges like an IronMan triathlon, moral challenges, emotional challenges, or even personal challenges such as changing deeply ingrained habits.  It all comes down to the choice that you make when you come to that crossroads.  Choose the easy way and you will undoubtedly be right back here again.
     I press on.